Live A Little
by adayinthelifekr
Summary: Stella is an uptight, stressed sixteen year old, who only ever knew how to survive- until she met James S. Potter.
1. Chapter 1

Life has a strange way of giving people exactly what they need. It takes and it rarely gives but when it does decide to take pity on the souls of the living- it gives love.

Love is love no matter where one may look. Whether it be familial or romantic or friendship—love is love. Without love human beings lack their meaning for life.

She woke to bright red flashes behind her closed lids. She reached behind her head, grabbed her pillow and proceeded to cover her eyes as best as she could to block out the light that was straining to invade her sleepy mind.

"Stella," her sister wined, "I'm starving to death." Christi was not actually starving to death and therefore, in Stella's mind, she could sleep another five minutes. She listened as her baby sister finally gave up with a huff and stopped flicking her light switch on and off.

"Umm Stelly?" a hesitant voice asked.

"What?" She groaned from the comfort of her small twin bed.

"Auntie won't wake up." Stella practically fell out of bed trying to get up as fast as possible. She then saw the scared, panicked look on her little brother's face. Jack was a short, timid kid that rarely ever made a fuss- the exact opposite of Christi in every way- and therefore she realized the severity of the situation.

"Grab the green bottle from the medicine cabinet and make Christi and yourself some cereal, okay?" She spoke as softly and as calmly as she could.

"Are you going to…?" Her brother responded timidly, running his fingers through his blonde baby hair anxiously.

"I have to." Stella responded gravely.

Jack ran out of the room to grab the potion while Stella grabbed a bucket and blankets. They brought all the supplies into their Aunt's dirty, cluttered bedroom. Though the room was the biggest one in the house it barely held the queen-sized bed and dresser that were squeezed into it. In the small space of floor between said bed and dresser lay Auntie B. She hadn't even made it to the bed this time.

"Lift her on three," Stella said as she knelt beside the sickly-looking woman. "One, two, three- lift." She grunted as she and Jack hauled the small woman on to the bed.

She pressed two fingers to the side of her neck and felt a very slow and barely-there pulse.

"Hand me the vial and go Jack—you don't want to see this." The small boy followed her orders and left to take care of their younger sister.

Stella- after making sure Jack had truly left the room—proceeded to force the green, sludge-like potion down her aunt's throat. She accessed the smaller-than-ever woman as she waited for the potion to take effect. Aunt Beatrice was once a gorgeous and elegant woman, renowned for her beauty and curse-breaking abilities; however, her love of Ginger Smoke- a wizarding drug that lulled a person into an extremely relaxed and pleasant state of mind- had caused the slow deterioration of her body and mind. She now was all sallow, yellowed skin and brittle bones. Her once intelligent and cunning mind was now nothing but mush that focused on one thing only- Ginger Smoke.

Stella was firm in her belief that hate should never be used when speaking of another human being. But she hated what that drug had done to her aunt and she hated the cleanup that she had to do every week so that her empty shell of an aunt could continue to provide a roof over her siblings' heads.

When the potion finally took effect, she stood at the ready with the designated post-overdose vomit bucket. She watched as her aunt began hacking and spewing gold tinted blood and Stella couldn't help but cringe. After the vomiting came, the chills racked through her aunt's bird-like body. Stella wrapped the blankets around the spasming body of her aunt to increase her internal body heat that was depleted due to the side effects of the Bleffer potion. She then proceeded to leave the small room and go on with her day.

Stella had been caring for her drug-addict aunt since her parents passed when she was ten. Jack had been only seven and Christi only six. Stella had to become the unofficial primary care taker. The Ministry of Magic had to follow the Stone's vague will and therefore place the children with their last living relative. She had begged their social worker to place them with anyone else and had in turn been told to toughen up. The only way she was getting out of that house was if her aunt died. Occasionally after a long night she would ponder leaving her aunt to die in a drug induced haze of her own making. Stella couldn't do it: it would forever haunt her if she ever let anyone die when she could of done something to prevent it—whether they deserved it or not.

When her Hogwarts letter had finally arrived, she had been so excited and had felt a wonderful sense of relief for a total of five seconds. She then had snapped back to reality and realized that she would never be able to take care of her family and attend a boarding school. She proceeded to send a letter to Headmistress McGonagall detailing that she would be unable to attend due to her aunt being 'sick' and therefore unable to care for her young siblings. The Headmistress had then provided the solution to all her problems- floo access home at night and back to school in the morning.

Her first five years had gone by relatively smoothly. Her brother was even able to join her when she was a fifth year. On weekends, she would occasionally floo in to grab a book from the library and once food from the kitchen when her aunt and her aunt's wallet disappeared for two weeks and they had run out of food. It worked out well and would become much easier this year when her sister joined Hogwarts as a first year. There were downsides to having so many responsibilities as a teenager. She had no social life, no real friends, and the stress levels of a forty-year-old.

The sound of shattering glass knocked her out of her revelry. An eardrum shattering sound that had originated from her aunt's bedroom. She darted back into the vomit-smelling room.

Aunt B had begun to spasm and shake—her muscles grotesquely contracting and her golden eyes rolling back. Glass from an old lamp she had knocked over was everywhere. Time seemed to freeze. In that moment Stella felt every piece of glass that dug into her sock laden feet and saw every spastic movement made by her dying aunt. Dying—her aunt was dying.

"Jack floo call Saint Mungo's- now!" Stella screamed from her aunt's bedside.

 _Tick, tick, tick, tick_ went the increasingly annoying clock that seemed to echo through the Saint Mungo's waiting room. Stella only refrained from standing up and smashing the infuriating old clock to bits because she couldn't get up without disturbing her siblings. She had one pale arm wrapped around an even paler Jack, his golden blonde head resting against her shoulder. Her other arm was rested on her sister, who was sprawled across her lap with her beautiful reddish-brown hair getting more and more tangled by the moment.

The peaceful bliss of the three siblings was interrupted only by the _click clack_ of heels on the overly shiny, tiled floor. The only woman who could make that much noise in heels went by the horrendous name of Lavender B. Finnegan. She was the Stone children's magical social worker and possibly one of the most distasteful women to ever exist. Today she had parred some horribly bright fuchsia colored wrap dress with sky-high, _leopard_ print heels.

"Oh you _poor_ children!" She whined in her overly high-pitched voice, "I _just_ heard the news!"

Stella was by no means dumb. She was top of her class with her OWL scores rivaling those of the esteemed war hero and civil rights activist Hermione Weasley. The fact that Mrs. Finnegan treated her like a common idiot made her blood boil. Stella knew for a fact that the second a presiding child care giver is admitted into Saint Mungo's, the social worker for the family is notified. She had been sitting in the waiting room for well-over three hours: Mrs. Finnegan did not _just_ hear the news.

Luckily the swift arrival of their aunt's healer kept Stella from informing the lacking social worker of this knowledge.

"You are the Stone family I presume." Said the tall, dark skinned man. "I'm Healer Thomas and I presided over your aunt's case today."

"Dean!" Screeched Mrs. Finnegan as she provocatively attached herself to the unwilling man, "I haven't seen you in forever."

"Lavender, it's nice to see you." The man replied in a tone that suggested it was anything but. "Are you the social worker for the Stone's?"

After releasing her death grip on the poor healer, she adjusted her dress and schooled a serious look on to her face.

"I am. _Please_ tell me you have good news for these _poor orphans_. They have already been through _so_ much," and then in a slightly lower tone added, "and so have I, dealing with all their _complaints_."

With a disgusted look at the stupid bint his 'thinking-with-a-different-head' best friend had married, he turned to the children, feeling absolutely terrible about the news he was about to bestow upon them.

"I'm so sorry children. Your aunt did not make it. Her substance abuse corroded her the blood-brain barrier and caused lipophilic neurotoxins to attack the brain. Were you aware of her Ginger Smoke usage?" He addressed the question to Stella, the obvious eldest of the children.

Today, Stella decided, she would tell the truth.

"Yes sir. She overdosed about once every two or so weeks. I used the Bleffer potion as well as blanket to take care of the shivers. It was only a matter of time sir." Stella responded, trying to sound as educated as possible in her shocked state.

"Lavender," he exclaimed in shock, "were you aware of their guardian's drug use?"

Before Mrs. Finnegan could respond Stella answered for her, "Yes sir, she was very aware. Every time I informed her of my aunt's resent escapades she told me to… I believe her exact words were 'suck it up and stop complaining'."

Healer Thomas turned his dark, accusing eyes on to the deer caught in the headlights.

"I… umm… how- how dare you accuse _me_ , your caring and attentive social worker, of _ever_ letting such abuse happen under _my_ nose."

"Mrs. Finnegan," Dean Thomas responded in a very quiet and threatening tone, "I believe you can show yourself out of _my_ waiting room. I will arrange for a more- a more suitable social worker to take their case." At Lavender's apparent hesitation to leave, Healer Thomas's eyes seemed to get increasingly darker, "That means you need to leave. The floo is down the hall."

With an overdramatic huff and an exaggerated turn, Lavender Finnegan fled the scene with not even a small amount of class.

Stella was in shock- absolute shock. Her mind was grasping for some sort of plan that ended with her keeping her siblings and avoiding an orphanage. Aunt B was gone. There was no money, no house. Stella was not yet of age. Christi was barely eleven for Merlin's sake! How was she going to convince the Ministry that she could take care of her siblings on her own? She would have to get a job or rob a bank or sell all her possessions.

Her internal mental hurricane was interrupted by the warm, jarring voice of Healer Thomas. "Stella is your name yes?" She nodded her head slowly, "Well Stella you have nothing to worry about. I have a friend that reminds me of you quite a bit- obviously intelligent with a tendency to overthink and attempt to solve everything on your own. She should be able to find you and your siblings a home with a real parental guardian."

"Sir, thank you, really, I appreciate it- I do, but… I- I really don't want to split up from my siblings."

"Stella, I-"

"There is no guarantee that anyone will want to take in three children who are leaving for Hogwarts in the fall anyways and-"

"Stella, you-"

"-I'm a year away from turning seventeen, sir, and I'm sure that if I just got a job I could care for my siblings. Really I've already practically done so since I was ten, sir, and-"

"Stella!" In response to the apparent aspiration in his voice, she instantly quieted. "You are still just a child- Stella listen. I understand you are sixteen but if you really have been caring for your siblings since the age of ten then you deserve to be a child for once as well! You will at least meet my friend because I'm sure she can find a happy, loving family for all of you. You won't be split up. So please take a seat and stay with your siblings you care so much about while I contact her."

Healer Thomas spun on his heel in the direction of the floo with a graceful swish of his lime-green healer robes.

Stella, with a stubborn sigh of resignation, turned to her now fully awake siblings. "I guess we can hear the woman out right?" She asked. They nodded, eyes wide, voices mute.

Healer Dean came around the corner with a beautiful woman. She had golden-brown, curly hair that fell to her shoulders elegantly and framed her heart-shaped face nicely. She practically exuded class and style in her beige robes that only highlighted her figure. It only took a second before Stella recognized her idol- Hermione Weasley.

"Stella and siblings this is Mrs. Hermione Weasley. Hermione these are the Stone children." The healer smiled a smug grin when he saw the awe in Stella's face.

Stella immediately stood up and stuck out her hand. "It's an honor to meet you Mrs. Weasley! I've read all your work on creature rights. I particularly find your book about centaur philosophy and beliefs to be extraordinary!"

Hermione Weasley was rather taken aback. She was quite used to complements being a war hero and all, but it was rare that she found someone who actually cared about her current work enough to have actually read _Centaurs and The Sky_. She recovered quickly however and shook the exuberant girl's hand. "It's so very nice to meet you Miss Stone. I truly would love to discuss with you why you find my book so fascinating when most fall asleep reading it; however, we need to discuss your living arrangements."

Instantly Stella fell back into reality. "Yes Ma'am, I understand. This is my little brother, Jack. He's twelve. This is my sister, Christi. She's only eleven. I refuse to be separated from them."

Hermione nodded slowly, accessing the girl in front of her and respecting the girl for her devotion to he family. She carefully responded, "I understand your need to be with your siblings and I believe I might have a home for you all. Don't get your hopes up too high but my brother-in-law and his wife have been talking about adopting kids for ages and I'm sure they would love to meet you. I'll be right back. I must go make a call."

For the first time that day Stella breathed a sigh of relief and let herself hope. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. She looped her arms around her siblings and pulled them in close to her- as close as comfortably possible- and proceeded to close her eyes and drift off into sleep.

That was the way, thirty minutes later, Hermione Weasley as well as Charlie Weasley and his Romanian wife Stea found the Stone siblings.

"Oh 'Ermione, they are precious." Said Stea, her soft accent breaking through.

"They are. The oldest, Stella, is very stubborn, but incredibly intelligent if the rumors are true. She is very protective over her siblings but she really is a very sweet girl. I have yet to truly speak with her siblings but I'm sure they are just like her." Responded a smiling Hermione.

It was Christi that woke up first to the sound of muffled adult voices. She starred up at the tall, brawny, red-headed man with a sort of nervous apprehension. The other two adults, the woman her sister had fawned over and some other woman she had yet to meet, were caught up in conversation a little ways away.

"Who are you?" Christi asked with a questioning look on her little face.

"I'm Charlie, and who are you?" he responded with a humorous smile on his face.

"I'm Christi but my sister says I'm not supposed to talk to strangers so I probably shouldn't talk to you but you seem nice and my sister always worries too much anyways. My brother always agrees with her and says that I'm to talkative and need to be more careful around people I don't know but I think that he just follows what she says because she's the oldest."

Charlie raised his eyebrows. Little Christi was going to be a piece of work, he could already tell. A groggy voice arose from the blonde girl, Stella.

"Christi, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"

"That I shouldn't" Christi cheekily responded. With this all three siblings seemed to shake the sleepiness from their brains. Stella immediately opened her eyes and looked at the large, redhead.

"I apologize if my sister is bothering you sir. She has a bit of a mouth on her and sometimes doesn't realize when she needs to stop talking." The last part was said with a pointed look aimed at her much smaller sibling.

"It's really no issue, I assure you." The man responded with a kind smile. "My name is Charlie Weasley. I'm Hermione's brother-in-law."

"Oh well in that case, I'm Stella and this is Jack," the small, quiet boy shyly nodded his head, "and well I suppose you've already met Christi."

"It's very nice to meet you Stella and you as well Jack. You must meet my wife, Stea." He gestured towards the beautiful platinum blonde that was speaking with Mrs. Weasley.

More introductions were made and Stella became filled with more and more hope that she would finally have a home and maybe even parental figures that… cared for her.

Charlie Weasley turned toward his sister-in-law with a huge smile on his face. "Is there anyway they can come home with us today?"


	2. Chapter 2

_August 19_ _th_ _2019_

Stella had always been fascinated by the stars. She loved the how they looked innocent, winking merrily in the sky; however, she knew the truth behind the stars. The stars were not tiny spheres of light and beauty—they were ginormous, burning infernos, millions of light years away.

She liked to think of herself like a star. Innocent and calm from far away but once one got closer and they saw what she really was.

The ceiling in her new room was enchanted to look like the night sky. She could see light dots of light and the moon and occasionally a shooting star would pass overhead. She loved it. For once she felt that she had found a place she belonged. That wasn't to say that she felt safe.

She didn't know the people that had so willingly taken her and he siblings into their home for the past week. She knew they were kind and happy people that loved music and that Charlie used to work in Romania as a dragon tamer but now worked closer to home, because he loved to be around his large family. These were good people and yet she worried that it was going to be just like Aunt B's house again.

When Aunt B had first taken them in, she had been clean and sober. It wasn't until after the death of her brother and pressure from having to take care of his three children had got to her, that she started using. She hadn't been very close with Stella's mother due to an old family feud that was never discussed. Though Stella had suspicions that it was more than that.

Stella had never been very close with her mother. Audhild Stone had been a very beautiful but rather selfish woman. She had a very sullen and serious nature that was rather off putting to young children.

Her mother had originally been from a small tourist town in Norway called Flåm. It was a beautiful town nestled in between mountains and surrounded by fjords; however, her mother was never happy there. She had wanted to be… someone. When her mother's family moved to England when she was sixteen, Audhild rebelled. Her mother ran off with Jeremy Stone, a kind-hearted pureblood who only wanted the best for Stella's mother. The second war against Voldemort had just ended and it seemed that everyone was getting married.

After the celebration died down and real life began again, Audhild realized that she had married a poor pureblood. Audhild was a child of two muggleborns and therefore not well versed in pureblood politics. All it had taken was Jeremy stating his love for her… as well as his blood status. Stella's mother had assumed that her new husband was as rich as the Malfoys or the Notts, only to later find that, while the Stone's had a substantial amount of money, they were not _that_ rich. That was when the arguments and parade of men began.

Stella remembered seeing her father quietly weeping to her Aunt B about how he regretted marrying her mother. Her father was a loving being who cared greatly for his children, but he was a sad man with a broken heart that seemed to bleed into every conversation she could remember having with her father.

Long after her parents were deceased, Stella realized just who those men were and why her poor father was always so sad. On that day she vowed to never love someone the way her father had loved her mother because she never wanted to become that hollow.

"Good morning, Stella! Time to wake up and take on the day!" Sang a much too loud voice for this early in the morning.

"Give me five more minutes." She groaned at the tall figure standing in her doorway.

"Alright, I gave her a chance. You can wake her up your way now." Said the loud, male voice.

Stella grunted as one small but very excited body landed on top of her. "It is time to wake up, Stelly!" said a voice belonging to Christi, each word punctuated by a jump on top of her.

"Okay, okay, get off of me, you hyperactive child." Stella responded grumpily.

"Mr. Charlie says that we're going to meet his family today." This startled Stella. She did not intend on dealing with so many people quite so soon.

Stella hated large crowds. Hogwarts was a bit of a struggle but she had been able to deal with it because she was able to floo home at night and on weekends. She knew it would be harder this year but she hadn't expected to have to deal with the Weasley clan so soon.

She didn't dislike the Weasleys per say, but she didn't like them either. They had always been rather loud and disruptive and never took anything seriously and yet they all had each other. Stella had no one. Sure she had her siblings, but she had to be strong for them, she was never able to have friends. Friends would ask why she had to floo home all the time and why she always looked tired and beaten down. Stella decided early on that she didn't need friends. The Weasleys had everything and she- she was jealous.

"That's great news, Christi. Are you excited?" she asked her little sister who was likely excited to meet someone her own age after a summer stuck inside.

"I can't wait! Charlie says that he has loads of nieces and nephews and that some of them are my age!"

"That's so great… for you, Christi!" Stella responded as happily as she could manage, trying to not let her inner dread for the occasion show through.

"Oh Stelly, I'm sure there will be kids your age too!"

"Thanks Christi." Stella sighed as she dragged herself from one of the comfiest bed she had ever slept in. It was the little things, such as that Merlin-sent bed, that made adjusting to her new home that much easier.

"Let's go, little ones! We have a long day ahead of us and none of you have eaten yet." Rang a melodic voice coming from the kitchen, accompanied by the smell of savory bacon.

"Dear," spoke the loud voice that had first roused her this morning, belonging to one Charlie Weasley, "You do realize that my dear mother is going to practically force feed them the second we get there, yes?"

"Well of course, Charlie, but that is absolutely no excuse to skip the most important meal of the day. Plus they are much too thin and I'm sure your mother will agree with me." Stea replied with a playful tone in her voice.

"Well you heard the woman," he spoke, now addressing Stella and her sister, "breakfast awaits!" Both girls broke into a fit of giggles when he raised one fist and ran in the direction of the kitchen yelling, "Charge!"

Breakfast was a rather rambunctious affair, with Stella laughing more in one sitting then she had in the last year alone. She couldn't remember feeling this content and cared for since even before her Father's death. The laughter and joy even managed to distract her from her worry about the rest of the day's proceedings.

After breakfast Stella returned to her room determined to look at least slightly presentable as she remembered that _The_ Hermione Weasley was going to be there. She searched through her rather small amount of clothes to find her one, nice, presentable dress. Luckily it fit the occasion rather well. The dress was a beautiful white summer dress with a, admittedly fading, beautiful blue rose print on the slightly threadbare fabric. She laced up her old, beaten canvas shoes and applied a light layer of makeup. She glanced in the mirror, nodded, and went on her way, grabbing her favorite paperback, an old, beaten copy of Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, on the way out.

She proceeded to walk into the small, comfy living room, where she was told to floo to a place called 'The Burrow'. Stella personally found the name rather odd but trusted the couple to know where they were going. After entering the floo and calling out for 'The Burrow', Stella immediately felt the green flames surround her and sweep her off to her personal doom.

Luckily Stella was rather used to flooing due to her past living situation and therefore could make a rather dignified entrance into the crowded and rather loud Weasley home; however, her little sister, who happened to follow Stella, was not so used to it.

"Oomph." Stella blurted as her tiny but dense sister fell into her, creating a domino like effect that caused her to promptly fall on her face.

"Oh Stelly, I'm so sorry! I'm not used to flooing and that was rather terrible. Merlin Stella, are you okay?" her panicked sister practically screamed.

Suddenly conversation stopped, all eye turned on her, and she distinctly heard three other poofs from the fireplace. Stella immediately scrambled to get up and help her overwhelmed baby sister up as well. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a rather sizeable woman with graying red hair hurriedly approaching.

"Oh you poor dears," she said as she swept the now confused sisters into a rather constricting hug, "I saw that fall. Happens to everyone. Are you both alright?"

"Mum, I think you're smothering them." Said Charlie with an amused tone to his voice, "Stella, Jack, Christi, this is my wonderful mother, Molly."

"Nice to meet you ma'am," Stella politely replied, speaking for them all, "Thank you for inviting us into your home."

"Oh the pleasure is mine, dearie. Charlie, she is just so polite! They are all so adorable but much too thin—I'll fix that soon enough. Children let me introduce you to everyone."

Then began the slew of introductions to what seemed to be all adults. There were so many people that Stella lost track almost immediately. Everyone seemed quite nice and polite, yet cautious around newcomers. Stella guessed this had to be due to the sheer popularity of the people in this family. Everyone was someone: There were famous war heroes, inventers, politicians, political activists, Quidditch players. Jack, who was much like her when it came to social situations, looked quite stressed, while Christi was loving all the attention.

"Hey Kiddos," said the redhead inventor named George, "Why don't you go outside with the kids? I'm sure they will be ecstatic to meet you." Jack seemed to immediately destress, practically running out the door, followed closely by his sisters.

Outside was a beautiful field where a full-fledged game of Quidditch was being played. Redheads and the occasional brunette zoomed around the yellowing field, high in the sky on colorful brooms. The sun was high in the sky and a slight breeze was blowing in from the nearby woodland. It was wonderfully picturesque. Stella found herself thinking that if she was in any way artistic she would have longed to paint the stunning scene.

"Watch out!" a familiar voice yelled and yet again, for the second time that day, she found herself flat on the ground. She looked up, blue eyes met green eyes and her heart skipped a beat.

"Hi." Said the voice attached to those beautiful green eyes.

"Umm hi," she shakily replied, "You're, uh, squishing me."

"Oh right," he replied as he quickly stood up and relieved the pressure on her chest, "I'm so sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going and I… I'm sorry."

"Yes well… you should… watch where you're going next time." She replied as her senses came back to her. She stood up and attempted to gather up her pride.

Nervously she noticed that everyone was staring at her. Instantly she clammed up and the walls went back up around her heart. She turned and quickly fled the scene, leaving her siblings to introduce themselves, escaping to a nearby bright yellow couch that sat a bit of a ways away from the Quidditch pitch, bathing in the midday sun. She sat down and opened her book, settling in and escaping into the wonders of the universe.

James Sirius Potter considered himself a rather positive person. He loved to make other people's day better with a joke or a laugh even if it was at his own expense. His constant positivity became practically expected of him and people asked him if he was sick if he wasn't in a good mood.

He hated that.

James loved his family. They were loud and obnoxious at times but they were always there for each other. He lived for the summers where he spent almost the entire time in the backyard of the Burrow with his siblings and cousins playing Quidditch, eating, laughing and just enjoying the time they had with each other. However, when they went back to school everything changed. Weasleys and Potters had a very respected image in the world and therefore had to act it. Because of his name he was supposed to be quidditch obsessed and prankster extraordinaire.

He hated that.

No one cared that he had the second highest grades in the school, only behind one, Stella Stone.

Merlin, Stella Stone.

James had been head over heels for Stella since she told him to 'Knock it off and shut the hell up' when he sat behind her in History of Magic and kept sending small paper aeroplanes into her thick, blonde hair.

Stella Stone was everything James ever wanted and yet everything that he could never have.

James was expected to marry some redheaded, green eyed girl, who was positive always and supportive and would provide beautiful black-haired, green eyed children, just like his father and grandfather did.

Stella Stone was no Lily Evans or Ginevra Weasley. She was blonde and blue eyed but that wasn't the only place the differences lied. She was serious and incredibly pessimistic. Stella was quiet and only seemed to care about two things, her siblings and her grades.

Anyone who actually knew who she was didn't like her, except for James.

He saw that she wasn't mean, she just didn't give a rat's arse about what anyone thought about her, and that was what he liked about her. She couldn't give two shits about how anyone else perceived her and he deeply envied that. He longed for that. He longed for her. Well—not really _longed_ but she intrigued him.

Then he crashed straight into the figment of his wildest fantasies. There she was laying under him and all he could say was 'Hi'. Not his brightest moment.

He couldn't help but focus on how pretty she looked with the sunlight bouncing off her honey colored hair perched on the couch in that tiny blue dress. Fred, his best friend and cousin, gave him _the_ _look_.

"Mate, you know she's now technically our cousin by law right."

"What? How?"  
"Uncle Charlie and Aunt Stea adopted the Stone's"

"What?"

"You stopped listening to Grandmum when you heard Stella's name."

"Oh"

"Mate you have an issue." Fred said with a smirk on his face.

"I do not. You have to admit she's hot and she interests me."

"I guess…" James took this as Fred's approval and began to make his way to the blonde beauty on the yellow couch.

"Mate, you can't treat her like all the other girls. She doesn't fit the image and she's been through enough. Just leave her alone."

"I'm not going to shag her. I'm just going to talk."

Stella loved _A Brief History of Time._ It was one of her all-time favorites and yet… she couldn't focus. Those deep, green eyes wouldn't leave her mind.

James Sirius Potter was unquestionably handsome. He was the classic kind of handsome. Jet black hair that swept across his forehead, a strong, clean-shaved jaw and a body that gave her an appreciation for Quidditch. Stella had always found him attractive.

Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. He was a jock and prankster and she had better things to worry about… but he was so cute.

"Stella!" called James. How did he know her name? Why was he calling after her?

She looked up from her book and saw that he had decided to sit next to her on the couch that she had now unofficially claimed as her own. She raised one eyebrow and waited for him to speak.

"Umm. Hi. I'm James Potter."

"I know… we've gone to school with each other for the past five years."

"Oh uh yeah. I just… was kind of wondering uh why you're here." Was he joking with her? Charlie had told her that no one would ask questions because he had already told them. She decided to stay silent instead of responding and instead attempted to immerse herself in the wonders of the ever-expanding universe; however, James Potter had other plans.

"Don't talk much? That's fine. So, you and your siblings are staying with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Stea, yeah? That's cool. So, something happened to your parents then? Sorry that's probably not my business. Sorry, am I rambling? I'm rambling. You know I'd really love to stop but I have this thing where if someone else isn't talking I can't keep myself from rambling. Fred, Fred Weasley—he's my best mate, calls it word vomit. He says it's a James Potter classic. I don't know if I would call it a _classic_ but people always comment on how James Potter senior, my dad's dad, used to do the same thing and—"

"James. Stop. Look I get it. You want to know why I'm an orphan and for how long and all that other bollocks so that you can then ask 'How are you doing?' and pretend like you actually give a damn. I know you don't and that's fine but you don't have to pretend."

"Oh… I mean I'm not pretending. I actually do care. I can't imagine what it felt like to lose your parents… if that's what happened…" Seeing James' awkward smile she decided to take pity on him.

"Maybe you do James and well… thanks I guess but we're not friends. You barely know me. We aren't even in the same house so it's okay for you not to." She said as bluntly as she could. She wanted this conversation to end as soon as possible.

"I do care, Stella. That's just who I am." He said with a very pained smile on his face.

"No, it's not." She practically yelled, "You are so full of shit that you don't even realize it and have begun to believe the 'Perfect Potter' speech that comes out of your mouth"

"Excuse me?" he said, fake smile now completely gone, disbelief plastered on his face.

"You're excused." She said with an exact replica of the smile James had just had on his face and waited for him to leave. She hated feeling this out of control as it was unfamiliar and happened very rarely for a reason. Stella was always in control. Except for when it came to James Potter apparently.

"Fine then. Be a bitch." He mumbled as he walked away from her couch and towards the still heavily populated Quidditch Pitch.

Little did either know that it was only the beginning.


End file.
